A Little Better
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: After hiding it from him for years, Tony catches Pepper in a moment of weakness and tries to help. Pepperony. Post IM2


**A Little Better**

Pepper grimaced as another wave of pain hit her. Leaning against a nearby wall, she placed a hand on her lower stomach, composing herself before she tried to attempt walking in a straight line in her heels again. The fire in her abdomen was pounding against her, making it extremely difficult for her to stand up straight in her chosen footwear for the day, let alone walk, especially seeing as a similar pressure was steadily loading onto her back and hips as well. When sitting at her desk earlier she found that if she leant forwards enough to ease the ache in her stomach, her back would spark in pain, and vice versa. She wouldn't have even considered breakfast that morning were it not for the requirement of her medication. The prescription anti-inflammatory drug usually eased her pain enough for her to function during the day. Today, though, she'd been in a rush after her alarm had failed her, and she hadn't picked up her new prescription from the pharmacy on the way to Tony's mansion.

For the better part of the morning, she'd been hidden away in her office with her paperwork, comfortingly finding that no one saw fit to bother her long enough to notice that something was up. She was grateful for the fact that Tony had gone to demonstrate some of his more recent defence inventions to Rhodey's unit, and still more glad that he was more focused on defencive weaponry than his previous means of destruction. It meant that he was away from her, not riling up her borderline dangerous PMT, and would relatively behave with Rhodey beside him. She decided to take advantage of the time he wasn't in his home, and manage to drive herself to his mansion to deliver the paperwork. She briefly considered going via the pharmacy, but all she had left to do was deliver the paperwork, mark it very clearly and obviously that it needed to be signed, and then she could go home. Tony was always telling her to actually use a vacation day or a sick day, so she was going to take advantage of it - but only after she had done the absolutely necessary amount of work. She would pick up her medication on the way home, then do nothing but curl up in bed with a hot water bottle and attempt to fall asleep before 3am.

But her plan was failing her, and she was deeply regretting not hitting the pharmacy on the way through. It would have taken her thirty minutes out of the way, but now, she'd have considered it worth it. She was dangerously close to needing someone else to drive her home. Perhaps Happy would be kind enough to do so without causing a big fuss. Happy was good, he wouldn't tell anyone about a brief moment of weakness, and he wouldn't mind bringing her back earlier tomorrow to collect her car on her way to the office. She was in no condition to be driving. Judging by the way she kept closing her eyes to concentrate on willing the pain away, she'd cause several accidents.

She planned on leaving the paperword for Tony in his workshop, usually covering it in an array of colourful postits. He liked colourful, just like he like shiney and new toys. Colourful things attracted his attention like a toddler to a new toy. But with each step down to the basement area, she felt her abdomen tense and the muscles shudder. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to keep moving. Somehow, she made it to the desk, put the paperwork down without indicating it as planned, and then made to move as quickly as possible, already taking her phone out to call Happy.

However, attempting to raise her leg to take the first step back out of the workshop failed her. Moving her leg at that angle caused pain to shoot up her thigh and up her sides, circling round her spine and eventually crushing her abdomen. She grimaced, unable to hold back the moan that fell from her lips. She looked up at the stairs, knowing that the only way she'd make it up there now was if she crawled on her hands and knees, and she was too proud for that. Instead, she fell down onto the second step, using it as a seat as she bought her feet up onto the step below. Her arms wrapped themselves around her stomach and she leaned forwards, resting her head against her knees. She felt the tears spilling, but didn't know why - probably her hormones, but it was helping mildly as a release. She hated feeling this weak, and knowing with that without her medication she could do nothing.

Closing her eyes took her away from the stairs, unable to see or hear anything around her. Even Jarvis remained silent. He'd been silent since she entered the mansion though, so she supposed that Tony had turned him offline in the house so that he could use him as part of his demonstration. Although she was thankful, she released that the robotic system could have called Happy for her, rather than having to retrieve her phone from where it had fallen just out of her reach. God, she'd even settle for the AI alerting Tony to her problem. She wasn't sure if she'd be more embarrassed that her boss and boyfriend of four months would find her tear-stained form stuck at the bottom of the stairs, or more relieved that he was someone who would find no problem with carrying her up the stairs to a more steady ground.

Amid her dilemma over what to do next, she forgot that she was in full view of the workshop through the glass walls. She also forgot that without looking, she was unaware of anything happening within the workshop beause Tony had the walls sound-proofed years ago after she had complained about his music volume levels. So she wasn't aware of Tony returning to the workshop via the garage entrance, parking an Aston Martin up beside the beloved Hot Rod. She was also unaware of him throwing some things around carelessly (including her paperwork) until he noticed where she was sitting. She didn't see the concerned expression glaze over him as he quickly dropped the files in his hands and jogged over to the entrance. All she heard was the hiss of the door as he rushed through it and crouched before her. She vaguely heard words falling from his lips, and looked up when she felt hands on her shoulders. His eyebrows were knitted together tightly, frowning at the sight of her crying but the compassion was exactly what she needed.

"Tony..." she muttered weakly, her voice thick from the tears. He moved his hands from her shoulders so that he could sit beside her and place his arms around her. She leaned into him, legs still drawn up, and let him hold her without question. Usually she fought against public displays of affection until the evening, arguing that they could be interrupted (caught) by someone (Rhodey, Natalie/Natasha, Happy), but today she had no more fight left in her.

"Hey," he said softly, his voice like that of someone comforting a crying child. "Pep, what's the matter?"

She looked up at him, wiping her eyes. "Nothing," she defended. "I'm okay now."

Her mind was screaming otherwise, her muscles clenching and showering her with a wave of nausea in protest. She knew that it was nothing to be ashamed of, that she could tell him, that she could even ask him to pick up her pain medication, but years of insisting that it was something she could cope with alone held her tongue.

"Pepper, you are not ok," he saw through her lie instantly. He put his hand on her forehead, testing for a fever. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick."

"I'm not sick," she deflected.

"You look sick," he pointed out. "Why didn't you say anything before I left this morning? I could have stayed, forced you to take a day off..."

Sweet, she mused, that he knew she wouldn't have taken a day off unless it was supervised. "I didn't know until after you left," she admitted.

"You could have called."

"And interrupted your demonstration?" she asked incredulously. "A weapons demonstration?"

He had to admit she had a point there. "Okay, maybe not a great idea." He frowned and looked up. "Why didn't Jarvis...?"

"I think Jarvis is offline," she mused, taking a deep breath.

"Shit," he swore. "Picked a great day to shut him down for an upgrade," he muttered under his breath before turning his attention back to her. "What can I do? What do you need?"

"My medications at the pharmacy," she mumbled, laying her head down on his shoulder. "I forgot to get it this morning."

"If you tell me what it is, I can boot up Jarvis and we'll find something to improvise with while I send someone to pick it up-"

"You can't improvise it," she told him.

"Well, what is it for?" he attempted.

"Doesn't matter," she mumbled against him. "The pain will be gone by the morning."

She realised her mistake instantly. Admitting that she was in pain. Tony thought she was sick, and in denying that she'd had him thinking that she had stomach flu or something similar. Now, she didn't have to look up to see he was instantly more concerned, able to feel the slight tense of his arms around her.

"You're in pain? Pepper-"

"It'll be gone in the morning," she repeated. "It's normal." But even she didn't believe that. If it was normal, she wouldn't have been given medication for it.

Tony Stark looked at his assistant, his friend, and his girlfriend, all rolled into one beautiful package, slowly dismantling at the foot of his stairs. He raised her face from his shoulders, taking in the sight before him. Her face was paled, cheeks flushed with pain, eyes watery and red, jaw clenched against the pain, and her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. He sighed at her stubbornness, his thumbs tracing her cheeks. "Pep, help me out here," he whispered. "Let me help you. What is your medication for?"

She looked down and mumbled.

"Pepper," he repeated.

She sighed and returned her head to his shoulder. "Cramps," she whispered.

He was silent for a moment, and then reached a realisation. "Oh, you mean-"

"Menstrual cramps," she confirmed.

He fell quiet again, and for a moment she thought he was actually going to move away from her. Instead, he shifted to sit sideways and then drew her back into his arms. One arm encircled her, settling her head on his chest, and the other drifted down her back, eventually settling down low and stroking it gentle. She seemed to collapse against him a little more, sighing to herself as the movement eased a fraction of the pain.

He asked her what pharmacy her prescription was waiting at, then whipped out his phone and called Happy, instructing the driver that it was a matter of urgency for the medication to be picked up and delivered to him. Happy asked no questions and set to it immediately, leaving Tony to focus all of his attention of Pepper knowing that her medication was less than an hour away. "Happy's going to get your medication," he assured her. "Think you can make it upstairs?"

"Honestly?" she shook her head. "There's a reason why I'm stuck here."

He nodded, the bristles of his goatee tickling her forehead. "Don't worry, I've got it." With that, he got to his feet, carrying her with him. "See, Superhero Boyfriends are handy."

She made no comment, just wrapped her arms around his neck and secured them tightly as he began to ascent. "Tony," she whispered, as they reached the top.

"Yeah, Pep?"

"Thanks," she mumbled.

He smiled, placing his lips to her forehead again as they set off down the hall. Moving her seemed not to help though, and by the time he reached the coach she was tensed and fighting back moans again. He set her down gently, watching as she instantly curled up into a ball against the corner cushions. He put his hand on her shoulder, moving it up to her hair and then stroking it down. She turned her head to him.

"I think I have a temporary solution," he voiced.

"Please tell me it's a hot water bottle," she said in a strained and tiny voice.

"Unfortunately not, but if this works, it'll be just as good," he said confidently. "Shuffle forwards," he instructed.

She did so, leaving him space to slip onto the couch behind her. He placed his legs either side of hers, drawing her away from the back cushions she was currently leaning on, and settled her head back against his chest. She sighed at the contact and he moved to put his hand on her front, only to find that her legs were blocking him up. "Pepper, I won't be able to do this with your legs like that," he told her. "As much as I love your legs, they're in the way."

"It doesn't hurt as much like this," she reasoned.

"Please, Pep?" he asked her. "Come on, let me try and help."

Slowly, she stretched out her legs before her and he didn't miss the way she winced at the movement. With better access, he placed his hand on her lower stomach as she collapsed fully against his chest. He allowed one of his hands to rub small circles against her stomach, small at first but slowly venturing out across more skin. She was wearing pants today rather than her usual pencil skirt, so it allowed for freer movement around the waistline and he managed to dip his hand about an inch below the waist of her pants. She tensed up at his touch going lower, but when she found that he had simply found himself the exact spot to make his massage work, she completely forgot about how close his hand was to her underwear. Her argument died on her tongue; he wasn't being inappropriate, he was just trying to help. He continued rubbing small yet firm circles against the soft skin, trying to loosen up the muscles that tensed beneath his fingertips.

"Pepper," he began awkwardly, "I've known you for ten years and never seen you like this before," he said and she nodded in agreement. "Are you always in this much pain?"

"The medication helps," she told him, without directly confirming his assumption.

"Why haven't you said anything before?" he asked.

"I wouldn't have said anything today, if you hadn't seen," she admitted.

He sighed. She was completely right. It wasn't in her nature to admit to being in pain, even if it was a reccurrant pain that restricted her. She was a trooper. "Stubborn little thing, aren't you?" he mused, leaning down and placing a kiss near her temple.

"Can't help it," she admitted.

He sighed heavily again. She shuffled against him, moving further up his body so that her face was near his neck. With his consistant massage, the pain already felt more bearable. She felt warm, relatively comfortable, and above all, loved. A year ago, she'd never have even considered that he was capable of such compassion, but the world could see that since then, Iron Man had changed him. They were wrong, though. It wasn't the metal suit, but Afghanistan that changed him. It was the knowledge that if the magnet in his chest failed, that he would die. It was knowing that he had been given a new chance at making his life worthwhile, and since returning from his extended desert trip he had been attempting to show her that. The expo had changed things, more specifically, standing on a rooftop and watching forty percent of it burn to the ground had changed things while they kissed, but in true Stark style, those broken portions of the expo were already up and functional again.

And in his arms, there were no doubts. They may not have a game plan, and they may not know where their lives would be in ten years, but they knew that they would be together. This was not a fleeting affair, it was something more, and after ten years of dancing around one another and ignoring the signs, they were happy to revel in the comfort of one another's arms. Now was a perfect example. He could easily have been scared away by the plague that was her 'time of the month', but instead he was at her side, his hands pressing into her abdomen in a way that perhaps should have been painful, but was instead a help.

"How do you do it?" she asked him. "I can put pressure on my stomach until the cows come home, but it never works like this don't."

"My plan works," he smirked gently. "To spare the science of the moment, it's not in the pressure, but in the warmth it creates," he told her. "The movement over your skin heats it up and works the same way that a hot water bottle would, only with more pressure. So next time you're in pain like this, call me and I'll come to wherever you are."

"I won't disturb you if you're busy-"

"Never too busy for you," he told her, another kiss to the side of her head backing him up. "I mean it, Pepper. If it hurts, I want to help you. I've got to admit, seeing you hurting like this is hurting me too. Obviously nowhere near as much as it's hurting you, but it's..."

"Not nice seeing someone you love in pain," she finished for him knowingly.

He nodded, "I guess I've made you endure that a few too many times," he realised.

"This can't be patched up with ice and a band aid," she reminded him.

"Happy shouldn't be long," he assured her. She squirmed in his grip for a moment. "Hey now, I'm sure that doesn't help...try to relax," he soothed, moving the hand that wasn't on her stomach up to her neck. He used his thumb to trail a line up and down her throat, remembering expertly that to place ones lips there would leave her shuddering instantly, but to trail fingers along the creamy skin would send her into a relaxed trance-like state within minutes. Almost immediately she began to soften in his arms. "That's better," he whispered, trying to keep her focused on his hands and voice rather than the cramps raging through her lower body.

Her eyes felt heavy, and she knew what he was trying to do but had no strength in her to argue. Happy wouldn't be back with her medication yet and closing her eyes for a moment would help her to escape the pain for a while. For a while, she surrendered herself to the soothing movement of Tony's hands, focusing as best she could on the nonsense words spilling from his whispering lips and the gentle rise and fall of the chest she lay against, leaning slightly to the side to avoid the arc reactor digging painfully into her back. However, this didn't last for long. She wasn't sure how many minutes past, but she wasn't able to fall into any kind of slumber under his attempts at relaxing her. She didn't say anything to Tony, but he was watching her and could see the deep frown settle on her face, and the wrinkles at the side of her eyes appear as she clenched them tightly shut, trying to get back to the relatively peaceful state she'd been in before.

Tony's lips found their way to her ear, assuring her that Happy was almost there with her medication, and she nodded. She kept her eyes closed, breathing deeply to try and steady herself. By the time that she heard Happy's voice nearby speaking to Tony, she was starting to break out in a sweat. "It's getting worse, isn't it?" Tony's voice interupted her mental argument.

She nodded, biting her lip.

Just then, he was moving her away from him, and she protested until she realised that there was a dose of her medication and a glass of water being extended to her. Happy looked to Tony and also handed him a hot water bottle. Tony frowned at it, but took it and placed it against Pepper's abdomen gently while she drank the water. "How-"

"I passed Ms. Rushman in the driveway," Happy explained. "She told me to bring this to Miss. Potts, and there's also a sizably large box of chocolates which I put in the kitchen."

Tony frowned in confusion. "How does she know?"

Happy looked awkward. "She told me to tell you that a woman always knows."

He simply nodded slowly. "Right, a hormonal woman alleigance, perfect," he mumbled before looking back at the driver. "Listen, uh...thanks for this. Good job."

"Not part of the job, Mr. Stark," he insisted lightly with a smile. "Just a favour for a friend."

Tony nodded as the driver left them, chosing not to ask which friend the favour had been for. He looked back down at Pepper, took the empty glass from her and set it down on the ground beside the couch, and then settled more comfortably with her. Happy or Natalie/Natasha (he wasn't sure what they were calling her today) had already filled the hot water bottle so that he didn't have to move away, and luckily it was already cool enough to place directly under her shirt against her skin without burning it. She held it against her stomach as she got comfortble on her side alongside his body, and he rolled over to mimic her position so they were facing one another. This way, the closeness of his body held the pain aid in place without her having to hold it there. Wrapping his arms around her again, he began to trail a hand softly up and down the length of her spine, the even and gentle caress meant to relax her again.

"You have work to be doing," she mumbled, a weak protest that even she didn't fully support. "I left you paperwork in your workshop-"

"Which can be done tomorrow," he finished. "Right now, the only thing I need to do is lay right here, hold you in my arms, and act as a living, breathing pillow." She didn't protest again, and he tightened his hold on her. After a while even he felt relaxed enough to fall asleep, but he remained in a peaceful trance, holding his girl in his arms until she fell asleep first. He made a mental note to research into the subject, try and find something more substantial to ease her pain, and then realised he still hadn't reactivated Jarvis, but he dared not move, and found that he didn't want to. Everything was peaceful, everything was still, and while everything may not be okay for the moment, at least they could make it a little better.


End file.
